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Michael Bloomberg Won’t Buy The New York Times Because He Hates It

When Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post, a popular theory that emerged was Michael Bloomberg purchasing The New York Times (if it ever went up for sale). However, David Remnick, editor-in-chief of The New Yorker, says that’s not going to happen. Why? Because Bloomy hates the Times.

Remnick, appearing on This Week, explained “Mike Bloomberg is a great innovator, but I have to say, I’ve heard straight from the horse’s mouth that he detests the New York Times… Mike Bloomberg thinks that the New York Times has an opinion page on the front page and he loathes it.”

That probably settles that issue, but still, you have to wonder Bloomberg could end up buying the paper simply because he hates it so much.

If Bloomberg did, then he could change the Times to fit his vision. Which we imagine would feature plenty of articles praising Bloomberg.

Mediabistro Event

Meet the Pioneers of 3D Printing

Inside3DPrintingDon’t miss the chance to hear from the three men who started the 3D printing boom at the Inside 3D Printing Conference & Expo, September 17-18 in San Jose, California. Chuck Hull, Carl Deckard, and Scott Crump will explore their early technical and commercial challenges, and what it took to make 3D printing a successful business. Learn more.

WSJ Shrinks Iconic ‘What’s News’ Feature

The Wall Street Journal must be taking bikini season seriously, because it just shrunk its iconic “What’s News” feature. Today’s What’s News sidebar is a single column, instead of the customary two.

The What’s News section has been a Journal A1 staple for many years. It packs snippets of the day’s articles, along with items not found in the paper that specific day. The content was separated into Business & Finance and World-Wide. Now only Business & Finance remains.

In a memo announcing the move, Gerard Baker, the Journal’s managing editor, said What’s News was changing for a few reasons.

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Bernard Goldberg Rips WaPo Columnist for ‘Grotesque’ Analogy

There was obviously and understandably no shortage of opinion pieces in the Washington Post this week about the Jeff Bezos deal. But today, fellow journalist Bernard Goldberg takes the paper to task for one of those items.

In the lead paragraphs of an August 6 “WP Opinions” item, Ruth Marcus suggested that selling the paper to Bezos was Donald Graham’s “reverse Sophie’s Choice moment.” Goldberg thinks that’s simply ridiculous and, offensive:

Grotesque, I think, comes closer to describing the comparison Ms. Marcus makes. The decision to sell a newspaper is akin to the decision by a mother about which of her two children to save and which to give to the Nazis for extermination? In what universe would that be?

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Arthur Sulzberger: ‘The Times is Not For Sale’

Everyone else has had their say about The New York Times being sold, so we might as well get something from the Times’ publisher, Arthur Sulzberger. In a statement reported by the Times, Sulzberger was emphatic, declaring that the Grey Lady is not for sale:

Will our family seek to sell The Times? The answer to that is no. The Times is not for sale, and the trustees of the Ochs-Sulzberger Trust and the rest of the family are united in our commitment to work together with the company’s board, senior management and employees to lead The New York Times forward into our global and digital future.

Can’t get more direct than that, right? That should settle things! Right?

Everyone is Talking About the NY Times Being Sold

Now that Jeff Bezos has put The Washington Post in his cart, all everyone wants to talk about is what this means for The New York Times. Will it be sold? While most are yelling “Yes! Of course!” No one has any idea.

However, the Post’s sale is making media reporters’ mouths water, so they’ve got to say something, even if it means nothing. Below are just a few of the many discussions.

The Post says the Times lack of assets might lead to it being sold:

Whereas The Post has been owned by a diversified media and education company that could absorb some of the newspaper’s continuing operating losses, the New York Times Co. has been shedding assets that might have cushioned its flagship newspaper… The Times Co. owns just two major assets — its famous newspaper and the International Herald Tribune, a global paper that will be rebranded in October as the International New York Times.

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Score That Job: Dow Jones

A few weeks ago we took you inside Dow Jones in an episode of Cubes. If that made you say, “I’d love to work there one day,” here’s your chance to find out how to make that happen.

Vicki Salemi, mediabistro’s very own career expert, author and editor sits down with Meredith Lubitz, vice president of Talent Acquisition at Dow Jones to hear what it takes to go from candidate to employee.

A couple of hints? Who you are outside the office is just as important as who you are inside. So tighten up that social media presence. They want to know what you’re saying to the world.

You can view our other MediabistroTV productions on our YouTube Channel.

WaPo Lede: Well, Here’s a Story We Didn’t Expect to Be Writing Today.

We know how you feel, Mr. Irwin.

Neil Irwin shared the above lede just moments ago at the Washington Post’s WONKBLOG. And that really is as good a place as any to digest this news, because the announcement that Jeff Bezos is personally buying the D.C. paper is just plain wonky.

The Seattle Times, back in the day, sure. The LA Times, maybe. Then again, Bezos’ choice of outlet is likely a reminder of just how savvy a billionaire businessman he is. He may have seen the most potential for a 21st century daily newspaper business inside the Beltway, not beyond it.

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Jeff Bezos to Buy Washington Post for $250 Million

The Washington Post Company has signed a contract to sell The Washington Post and other papers to Jeff Bezos for $250 million. This is Bezo’s buy alone, it has no ties to Amazon.com Inc., which Bezos founded and remains CEO.

The deal includes the Post, the Express News, the Gazette Newspapers, Southern Maryland Newspapers, Fairfax County Times, El Tiempo Latino and Greater Washington Publishing. Washington Post Company will retain Slate, TheRoot and Foreign Policy. 

Katharine Weymouth (CEO and publisher); Stephen Hills (president and general manager); Martin Baron (executive editor); and Fred Hiatt (editorial page editor) will continue in their roles at the Post.

The Guardian is Looking for a New York News Editor

As The Guardian continues to ramp up its U.S. presence and operations, a most noteworthy job opening has been shared. The paper is currently accepting applications for the NYC bureau position of news editor.

A rep for the paper tells FishbowlNY the person hired “will be a senior member of the editing team working across the U.S. news operation, commissioning reporters, editing the site, planning coverage and liaising with Guardian teams around world.”

As per usual, the LinkedIn posting offers premium subscribers a direct query pathway to the paper’s U.S. HR manager Melanie Maddock. The job is also listed at The Guardian website end.

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NY Times Rumored to Sell The Boston Globe to John Henry, Boston Red Sox Owner [Update]

All the speculation about who will be the new owner of the Boston Globe might have just ended, via a baseball journalist’s digging. Peter Gammons is reporting that the New York Times is selling the paper to John Henry, the owner of the Boston Red Sox.

Henry wasn’t among the main rumored buyers, but he apparently submitted his own bid after the New England Sports Network pulled out.

We’ve reached out to the Times for comment, and we’ll update when we hear back.

Update (8/3 9:25 am):
The Times has confirmed that Henry is the new owner of the Globe. He is purchasing it for $70 million in cash, a far cry from the $1.1 billion the Times paid for it in 1993.

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